This invention relates to a flow control device for controlling the rate of fluid passing through flexible tubing, used in particular in medicine, for example for intravenous administration sets.
Various types of such devices are known in the prior art, whereby the plurality of those devices comprise a body member and as clamping means a roller, said roller being guided generally in grooves or slits arranged in an oblique relation to the bottom of the body member, for example as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,630,481 and 3,900,184. The fine adjusting of the flow rate is rather difficult with such rollers and the problems due to the cold flow of the tubing are not overcome by the form of the body member and clamping surface of the roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,641 discloses a hose clamp comprising a body member with a rectangular opening or recess and an excentric lever, pressing the tubing into said opening. This device could also not solve the problem of cold flow because the tubing retracts into said opening if the lever is not closed completely.